Over the years, many types of telephone voice messaging systems have been developed. There are two general types of telephone voice messaging systems: local and remote. Both systems record and store voice messages from incoming telephone calls after a specified number of rings go unanswered. Typically, a local telephone voice messaging system is physically cabled to a local telephone set and stores telephone messages on a device near the local telephone set. A user commonly is alerted to the presence of stored messages by an indicator, such as a light, on the storage device itself. An example of a local telephone messaging system is a personal or home telephone answering machine.
In contrast, a remote telephone voice messaging system stores telephone messages at a site remote from the user. A remote telephone voice messaging system typically includes a central switchboard for intercepting telephone calls and storing messages. An example of an automated remote telephone voice messaging system is the system offered by a number of Regional Bell Operating Companies.
In a Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) telephone voice messaging system, the telephone company automatically intercepts any telephone calls intended for a local telephone number which are not answered after a predetermined number of rings. Additionally, the RBOC system will intercept and store messages intended for a local telephone number that is busy. The telephone voice messaging system then records and stores any message at the telephone company office. The telephone voice messaging system alerts a user to the presence of stored messages by changing the dial tone of the user's telephone set to a unique tone. The user recognizes the tone by picking up the receiver of the telephone set and listening. The user then accesses the messages stored by the telephone company according to the prescribed procedures for that telephone voice messaging system.
The problem with current automated telephone voice messaging systems is that the procedure of checking the dial tone must be performed many times a day in order to ensure that the user is receiving their messages in a timely manner. Although relatively simple to implement for the telephone companies, the use of a special tone to alert users to stored messages is a time and labor intensive process for the system user. For system users who are physically challenged or handicapped, for example, frequent and consistent manual manipulation of the telephone set to check for stored messages may be very difficult.
At the heart of the problem with current automated telephone voice messaging systems is the lack of an external indicator to alert a user to the presence of stored messages. Users may not receive their messages in a timely manner unless they consistently remember to lift the telephone receiver and listen for the special tone. Users typically do not lift the telephone receiver and listen on a consistent basis without being prompted by a audible ring or visual reminder. For example, if a user has not been near their telephone set for an extended period of time, the user may not have a reason to lift the receiver and thus, would not receive their messages in a timely manner. As another example, when a message is left while the user is using the telephone set, the user would not know of the message unless the user remembered to lift the receiver a few moments after hanging up the receiver. Lifting the receiver just after completing a telephone call is awkward and not intuitive.
One solution to the lack of an external indicator is installing an external indicator, such as a light, directly on a telephone set. However, installation of a light directly on a telephone set requires significant technical expertise in dismantling and reconfiguring a telephone set. Uniform installation procedures for an external indicator are not possible because of the great variety of styles of telephone sets available. Depending upon the style of telephone set, the addition of an external indicator may not be aesthetically pleasing. Installation of a light on the telephone is not really a solution since there is no signal supplied by the telephone system that could turn it on.
For these reasons, an invention that could automatically check a remote telephone voice messaging system for stored messages in a consistent and timely manner, announce the presence of stored messages through an external indicator and, optionally, automatically connect the user to a stored message center upon entry of a predetermined command would minimize the time and manual effort required of the user of such a remote telephone voice messaging system. It would be advantageous if such an invention could be easily installed by a person without technical expertise and could be adaptable to any type of telephone set. It would also be desirable for such an invention to improve the performance of device which announces the messages stored by a remote telephone voice messaging system, while minimizing the number and complexity of required components and circuitry.